BY www.focus.it – Article by Eugenio Spagnuolo
Coffee is the most consumed beverage in the world after water: nearly 1.6 billion cups are enjoyed every day worldwide. An incredible figure, considering it is consumed in virtually every corner of the planet. But here are at least 12 interesting facts about coffee that you might not know.
1. Who drinks the most coffee?
The country with the highest coffee consumption is Finland, with 12 kg per person per year. On the other end, the country with the lowest consumption is Puerto Rico, with just 400 grams per person.
Italy ranks twelfth, with 5.9 kg per capita, behind countries like Switzerland, Canada, Denmark, and Austria.
The global average consumption is 1.3 kg per person per year.
2. It can be poisonous
Caffeine can be lethal, but only in extreme amounts: consuming between 80 and 100 cups of coffee within a short period (about 4 hours) could reach toxic levels.
3. It’s not just caffeine
Coffee contains over 1,000 chemical compounds. Many of these are still being studied for their potential health benefits, including treatments for heart diseases and insomnia.
Recently, the WHO officially cleared coffee of its past reputation as a potential source of carcinogenic substances.
4. The best time to drink coffee? Science explains
Not every moment of the day is ideal for consuming caffeine. Everyone knows that a late-afternoon espresso can interfere with sleep.
According to chronopharmacology, the branch of medicine that studies the relationship between drugs and our biological clock, the best time to drink coffee is between 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM.
5. It’s medicine
Several scientific studies highlight the health benefits of coffee:
- In 2008, Lund University (Sweden) found that coffee consumption may reduce the risk of breast cancer in women with a specific genetic variant (CYP1A2).
- In 2011, Harvard School of Public Health revealed that men who drank six or more cups of coffee daily reduced their risk of prostate cancer by 60%.
- Another Harvard study found that drinking 2 to 4 cups of coffee per day may cut the risk of suicide by 50%, thanks to coffee‘s antidepressant effects.
6. Why is it called coffee?
Around the year 1000, Arab traders brought coffee beans from Africa and prepared a stimulating drink called qahwa (meaning “exciting”). The word evolved into kahve in Turkish and finally became caffè in Italian.
Another theory suggests the name comes from Caffa, a region in Ethiopia where coffee grows naturally.
Coffee arrived in Europe in the 17th century, initially known as the “Wine of Arabia”, thanks to Venetian merchants based in Istanbul (then the capital of the Ottoman Empire).
The Church condemned coffee as the “devil’s drink” due to its stimulating properties. For years, it was mainly consumed in taverns, prepared Turkish-style, dissolved in water.
Everything changed in the early 18th century when coffeehouses became popular gathering places for Enlightenment philosophers and intellectuals.
2017
